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This listing contains all the analytical materials posted on the Russia Matters website. These include: RM Exclusives, commissioned by Russia Matters exclusively for this website; Recommended Reads, deemed particularly noteworthy by our editorial team; Partner Posts, originally published by our partners elsewhere; and Future Policy Leaders, pieces by promising young scholars and policy thinkers. Content can be filtered by genre and subject-specific criteria and is updated often. Gradually we will be adding older Recommended Reads and Partner Posts dating back as far as 2011.

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Russia and Collective Security: Why CSTO Is No Match for Warsaw Pact

Dmitry GorenburgMay 27, 2020
RM Exclusives

The CSTO is too organizationally weak and insufficiently integrated to serve as a capability multiplier for its members, and the weakness of other member states' military forces make them of limited value to Russia as military allies.

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book review

The Dark Arts of Disinformation Through a Historical Lens

Arthur MartirosyanMay 20, 2020
RM Exclusives

Understanding the fantastic past of disinformation is key to deciphering the present, argues Thomas Rid in his pioneering analysis of modern disinformation warfare from a historical perspective.

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In the Chaos of Syrian Geopolitics, Russia Remains Dominant

Kamal AlamMay 15, 2020
Recommended Reads

Recent talk of a rift between Moscow and Damascus may ignore Russia’s historic role in Syria.

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explainer

Who ‘Defeated’ ISIS? An Analysis of US and Russian Contributions

Domitilla SagramosoMay 06, 2020
RM Exclusives

There can be little doubt that the U.S. and its allies played a much bigger role in subduing the terror group than Russia. But ISIS has plenty of life in it yet and any alleged victory is fragile.

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Don’t Bet on Reset: US-Russian Relations in the Wake of the Coronavirus

Nikolas K. GvosdevApril 22, 2020
RM Exclusives

By offering himself as an ally to the Trump administration during the crisis, Putin hopes to achieve a long-elusive breakthrough with the U.S. But actions on both sides make the prospect of a 2020 reset unlikely.

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Russia’s Coronavirus Response Reveals Its Strengths and Weaknesses

Judy TwiggApril 11, 2020
Recommended Reads

Some of Russia’s inherent structural and demographic factors may help it cope. Others put it at a disadvantage.

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multimedia

Video: Spheres of Influence Webinar

Center for the National InterestApril 08, 2020
Partner Posts

When policymakers in the United States declared in the aftermath of the Cold War that the age of “spheres of influence” had ended, were they misdiagnosing the issue?

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Could the Coronavirus Destabilize Russia?

Nikolas K. GvosdevApril 06, 2020
Recommended Reads

There is a very real fear that the virus will overwhelm a brittle and underfunded health system. Combined with an economic shock, that could shake up the Russian political system.

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The Oil Price War of 2020: Winners, Losers and Ways Forward

Li-Chen SimMarch 25, 2020
RM Exclusives

China could be the major beneficiary from the oil price war, but for key oil producers and exporters the question is who is worse off and will be first to fold.

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Competing Views on Russia

2020 US Presidential Candidates on Russia: What Have They Said So Far?

America’s government and its foreign policy elites need to make a greater effort to develop effective policies toward countries in regions where rival great powers—China and Russia—have greater capabilities and/or resolve to advance their goals.

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Contending With—Not Accepting—Spheres of Influence

Steven PiferMarch 05, 2020
RM Exclusives

While Washington does have to deal with Russia's efforts to establish a sphere of influence in its neighborhood, that doesn't mean the U.S. should accept the legitimacy of those efforts.